Cutting rice is actually not the most tiring step, threshing is.
The rice stalks are cut and threshed on the ground. This requires the use of a threshing bucket.
Zhu Ping unloaded the huge threshing bucket from the ox cart, set it up on a stand, and placed it firmly in the paddy field.
Zhu Yuanzhang held a heavy rice stalk and stood in front of the threshing bucket with a pious expression.
He first gently placed the rice stalks on the crossbar poles of the shelf and silently prayed to the God of Grain.
Then he raised the rice stalk and knocked it hard on the shelf. Hearing a crisp bang, the rice grains were like pearls, falling into the bucket like raindrops.
Then, Zhu Yuanzhang raised the rice pole, shook it twice, and shook all the fallen rice grains into the bucket. Then he turned to the other side and continued to beat and shake off...
Although it sounds simple, the older generation all say that threshing millet is a martial arts job. Not only does every move require the waist and horse to be integrated and the force exerted evenly, but also skills must be paid attention to, and brute force cannot be used. The labor intensity is very high.
.After one autumn harvest, all the suet oil was knocked out of my belly.
Ordinarily, the job of losing weight should be done by Lao Liu, but it's a pity that he is not as tall as a threshing bucket...
After they became proficient, they began to work on the line. Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di stood next to the threshing bucket, threshing millet on the left and right. Zhu Biao and Zhu Xi delivered bundles of rice straw to them.
When Zhu Yuanzhang said, "That's enough for one pick," Zhu Xi picked up the threshing bucket, put the rice grains into the basket, and carried it to the drying field.
Zhu Zhen, who was in charge of drying the rice, also had a hard time. He had to brave the scorching sun and first use a rake board made by his fourth brother to spread the rice that had been poured on the field, and then spread it into a thin and even layer.
When the dew has dried, he has to rake out the weeds and straw mixed in the rice with a nine-tooth rake. In less than half an hour, Zhu Zhen has to turn the rice over and continue to dry it, so that it can dry out.
Expose evenly.
If the cycle repeats, it will take several days to completely dry out the moisture in the rice and turn it into grain for return to the warehouse.
The second brother would always carry the load and walk a few more times, controlling the speed at which the basket tipped over, and spreading the grains as evenly as possible on the ground to lighten Zhu Zhen's burden.
Even so, Zhu Zhen's arms were still extremely sore. What was even more uncomfortable was that his skin was burnt by the harsh sun. His face and back were constantly hurting, causing burning pain.
Even though he is deeply poisoned by the scorching sun, he is afraid when it is cloudy. Because when it rains, not only will a lot of the rice be washed away, but the rice that is not washed away is also likely to become moldy...
So he had to stay vigilant at all times. Whenever the wind direction changed or clouds appeared in the sky, he had to quickly pile up the sun-dried rice with rake boards.
When the dark clouds come over and the wind blows loudly, the fathers and brothers in the field will drop everything, rush to the yard, and collect the rice as quickly as possible.
But often when the clouds clear and the sun rises, it's just a false alarm, and they will walk away, leaving poor Liu Liu alone to clean up the mess.
But sometimes when it really starts raining, the family has no choice but to hold up bamboo mats and ponchos around the grain pile to protect the rice from the rain, but they themselves become drowned rats, and they are all in a miserable state...
~~
The seven men worked like this for seven consecutive days, and they were as tired as dead dogs every day.
Zhu Biao came home from work every day and snored loudly while sitting there waiting for dinner. At night, he and his five brothers would tangle their hands and feet together and sleep together, and he no longer had the trouble of insomnia.
Zhu Yuanzhang is similar. Although he has a good foundation, after all, he is almost 50 and cannot compare to what he was back then.
But Zhu Yuanzhang liked this feeling of being too tired to think about anything, which allowed him to temporarily escape from huge troubles and gain a moment of peace of mind.
Unfortunately, seven days later, as the last grain of grain was put into the warehouse, this year's autumn harvest came to an end.
After getting up tomorrow morning and eating dry rice cooked with new rice, it’s time to go back...
~~
The night before departure, Zhu Yuanzhang suffered from insomnia again.
He sat alone in the patio, listening to the ups and downs of his sons' snores coming from the house, looking up at the nearly full moon in the sky, and was lost in thought for a long time.
Suddenly Zhu Yuanzhang felt warm, and someone added a mattress to him.
He originally thought he was the prince, but when he looked down, he saw it was the youngest Liu Liu.
The prince was really tired. He had gritted his teeth and held on, but today he had to call it a day. He couldn't stand it any longer. He didn't even eat dinner, so he lay down and fell asleep. How could he care about his father who was melancholy towards the moon?
"Why aren't you sleeping yet?" Zhu Yuanzhang asked in a low voice.
"Pee..." Zhu Zhen rubbed his sleepy eyes and said, "I see dad is still awake."
"Yes." Zhu Yuanzhang felt soft in his heart, pulled him over, held him in his arms and said, "Then stay with dad for a while."
"Yes." Zhu Zhen lay obediently in his arms.
"Oh, it's better to be small." Zhu Yuanzhang felt this heavy sense of satisfaction and couldn't help but sigh: "As big as your brother, we can't even hug him."
"I will be twelve next year."
"Oh, we will grow up soon, so let's hug him tightly." Zhu Yuanzhang hugged him tightly.
"..."
In fact, both father and son are quite unfamiliar with this feeling, but as the atmosphere has reached, they hugged each other unconsciously. Now they both feel a little uncomfortable...
But it would be even more embarrassing to let him go immediately. Zhu Yuanzhang was at a loss for words and asked: "Lao Liu, what do you think we should do if this person goes the wrong way?"
"Change it."
"But if the mistake is too big and too much has been paid..." Zhu Yuanzhang thought about it and used an analogy: "It's like I spent all my money to marry you a daughter-in-law, but when I entered the bridal chamber, I lifted my hijab and saw that I
Go, why is he a big horse monkey?!"
"Fuck that's not okay! Even if I were to be a monk all my life, I wouldn't sleep with a big monkey." Zhu Zhen straightened up quickly and said to Zhu Yuanzhang seriously:
"Dad, how about I change the conditions? Those immigrants can't go home to visit their graves, so we can just let them pay their respects from a distance. Can you let me find a wife by myself?"
This king has nothing else to pursue in this life...
"Fuck you!" Zhu Yuanzhang picked up the shoe and gave him a sole. "I just thought you had grown up, and now you are showing your true colors? The sufferings of so many people are nothing compared to you marrying a wife?"
"It can't be compared." Zhu Zhen said seriously: "You are not going well yourself, but you can still control others?"
"Damn it, I thought you could be a wise king in the future, and the idle king is more or less the same." After Zhu Yuanzhang finished speaking, he explained: "Idle men and lazy people are free."
"Oh..." Zhu Zhen was afraid of eating the soles of his shoes and did not dare to talk about his fallacies anymore. But he was very fond of the position of 'Xian Wang'.
"But there is some truth in what you just said." Zhu Yuanzhang threw him to the ground, put on his shoes, stood up slowly with his knees in his hands and said: "Even if you broke everything and got married, your life is still long, how can you live with a big horse monkey?"
What about a lifetime?”
"Yes, yes, life is worse than death, so I can only become a monk." Zhu Zhen nodded vigorously. He hoped that in this way, his father could remember that he was a shallow and superficial person.
But Zhu Yuanzhang's thoughts were no longer here at all. He had long drifted out of this small courtyard and returned to the Zhongdu City, which cost hundreds of millions.
Just this night before returning, Zhu Yuanzhang made an extremely difficult decision...
ps. The third update, the next two updates are not finished yet... Alas, the child got sick and was affected for several days.
